Mozart : Concerto for Flute and Harp, K.299

     Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in the Archbishopric of Salzburg and was trained as musician by his violinist father, Leopold. From 1762 to 1773, Leopold took his family on a tour through Austria-Hungary, Germany, France, England, Holland, and Italy, where young Mozart and his sister Nannerl played pieces, sight read concertos, and improvised variations, fugues, fantasias, and arias. He also began composing, finishing his first minuet at age five, his first symphony before his ninth birthday, his first oratorio at eleven, and his first opera at twelve. Although he died at the young age of thirty five, he had a successful life as a musician, composing over six hundreds works throughout his lifetime. 

     In 1778, when 22 years old Mozart was in Paris giving concerts, he met the famous flutist who is the French ambassador in London, Duke Nigerian. The Duke's daughter is a harp player, as well as Mozart's student. He commissioned to compose a Concerto for Flute and Harp in order to playing at the marriage of Duke daughter's. The background of the resulting work, the concerto for flute and harp, K.299, is elegant and has vivid expression. It is actually a duet; flute and harp in the form of dialogue are talking to each other, as well as talking with the orchestra. 

     Concerto for Flute and Harp, K.299 has three movements. The first movement, Allegro, is in typical sonata form and the orchestra states the themes at the opening.  When the solos come in, they restate the themes and proceed to develop them. The second movement is an Andantino in a slow 3/4, and features only the strings with the flute and harp. However, Mozart creates a richer, deeper sound by dividing the violas into two parts. The movement begins with the strings stating the theme, followed by the soloists in a theme and variation form. The last movement is a fast Allegro in 2/2. As with the other movements, the string section states the theme at beginning, then the woodwind section surprises by restating the theme after an absence in the second movement followed by the soloists. 

      I believe many people would think that flute and harp are the instruments with most beautiful sound in the world. Meanwhile, the harp, as a “developing instrument” in the Classical period, did not typically belong in the orchestra. I doubt many composers would write a concerto for it, even a double concerto, simply because they did not know the harp very well. However, Mozart is omnipotent, he was not only done so, but also did in a wise way. The harp has a soft sound, like plucked piano, but with deeper and softer sound. However, it sounds jump.  The flute is one of the woodwind instruments, it sounds coherent. Flute and harp were all complement each other's deficiencies and develop its own characteristics. This piece called "Concerto for Flute and Harp" seems inappropriate, because of the characteristics of the sound, the harp is not suitable as a concerto. So Mozart used the flute to play as the primary instrument, the harp is one of the indispensable supporting role.  

      I always think the best part of Mozart’s music is when he makes fast music more exciting. He has a special strategy to make his fast music sound different than other composers. Perhaps the origin of that excitement was his zest for life. His happiness is always present in his fast movements of his music. The most impressive part for me in this whole piece is timbre. I have to say Mozart did an amazing job on creating beautiful timbres. In the second movement, Mozart composed for flute and harp with only the string section, making the flute as the only wind instrument in this movement. The flute’s sound is hazy, so the whole second movement sounds warm.  The second movement also gives prominence to the magical sound of harp. In the last movement, the string section states the theme first, followed by the woodwinds, followed by the solo instruments. I think this idea is great. Different timbre by different section directly guide audience into the music and make the melody more easier to remember.

     Mozart, a gunius composer, even only has thirty-five years life, his music is one of the most Important element that influences the whole music world.